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Jaal Ama Darav
Jaal Ama Darav is an angaran soldier and emissary in the Mass Effect universe. Originally from Havarl, a lush but decaying world in the Andromeda Galaxy's Heleus cluster, he regularly travels to several worlds as an angaran Resistance fighter and later an emissary to the Milky Way's multispecies Andromeda Initiative, serving with Pathfinder Ryder aboard the Initiative vessel Tempest. Personality Jaal is thoughtful, inquisitive, passionate, and loyal, with a minor cheeky and sarcastic sense of humor. He is an introvert: affable and eloquent, forming close bonds with those he trusts but needing "away from people time" to recharge. As a curious man with a technological bent, he loves to tinker, taking things apart to better understand them. Appearance Like others of his species, Jaal has a somewhat cat-like appearance. He has lavender skin and pale blue eyes with an almost starry pattern in their irises. As with other angara, his hands have five digits, but the final three on each hand are fused together. Members of Jaal's species are digitigrades, meaning that they walk directly on their toes. Jaal usually wears lightweight, durable dark teal armor, an enhanced monocle over his right eye, and a rothjin, a cape-like garment made from shimmery blue fabric. He is around 6'4" (193 cm) and weighs around 267 lbs (121 kg). Abilities Jaal is both a skilled marksman and melee fighter, with several special abilities and weapons: * Avenger Strike: '''Jaal can normally cloak for up to 15 seconds and deliver surprise melee attacks to enemies from behind. * '''Stick Grenade: '''Jaal throws grenades that adhere to surfaces on which they land. * '''Energy Drain: Jaal can zap electromagnetic energy from enemies to restore his own shields. * Jaal's Modified Lanat Sniper Rifle is a slow-firing kett weapon that discharges plasma-surrounded projectiles. Jaal's cloaking abilities and other technical tools can be accessed via his omni-tool, a multipurpose gadget that allows its user to perform technical functions such as hacking, decryption, scanning, photography and video recording along with limited minifacturing capabilities used to quickly produce certain types of weapons projectiles. Backstory Jaal Ama Darav was born sometime in 2792 C.E. on Havarl, a lush planet in the Faroang system of the Andromeda Galaxy's Heleus cluster. He is an angara, a member of a sentient species living in the Heleus cluster. Jaal and other angara have only known a life in which their enemies, a sentience race known as the kett, terrorized the cluster by capturing their friends and family members. These “disappeared” are later discovered to either have been killed or turned into kett by a process known as “exaltation.” According to Jaal, his own father either disappeared or died when he was a child. Many of his family members, including his mother, several siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles, joined the angaran Resistance to fight the kett. Jaal himself joined when he was 24 years old. Prior to that, he studied Remnant technology under the tutelage of scientific genius and cultural icon Moshae Sjefa, but as he explains, he was not a good student. When the Andromeda Initiative, a collective of Milky Way galaxy species, arrived in the Heleus cluster in 2819 C.E., Jaal had achieved the rank of lieutenant thanks to his passion, bravery, and smart fighting tactics. He had also become a trusted associate of its commander, Evfra de Tershaav. Jaal first encountered the Initiative and one of its operatives, Pathfinder Ryder, when the Initiative vessel Tempest was forced to land on the planet Aya after being chased by the kett. Jaal volunteers to be an emissary to the Initiative, accompanying Pathfinder Ryder and their crew as they assist the angaran Resistance, fight kett troops, and make the Heleus cluster habitable by activating Remnant technology and unlocking its secrets that could completely terraform several of its worlds.